Patent Application
20190225121
The present invention generally relates to seat height adjustment device and, in particular to an improved seat height adjustment device which is capable of reinforcing the structure by increasing the outer diameter of the clutch mechanism radially and also can be mounted to the seat in a general manner.
A seat height adjusting device usually includes a clutch mechanism and a brake mechanism which are coaxially arranged with each other, and a control handle is connected to the clutch mechanism. A user can drive the clutch mechanism through the control handle. The clutch mechanism interlocks the brake mechanism, and the output member in the brake mechanism drives the lifter in a seat such as a car seat, a massage chair or a wheelchair to control the lifting.
However, in the case of a car seat, the distance between the car seat and the car body is limited, moreover, the aforementioned control handle must be installed. Therefore, it is impossible to increase the height of the seat height adjusting device to enhance the structural strength. Furthermore, the side of the car seat has a plurality of mounting holes for installing the seat height adjusting device, and the positions of the mounting holes are fixed for the same type of vehicles.
Under the above conditions, when the structural strength of the seat height adjusting device has to be enhanced, the inventor has found that the following problems need to be overcome. Firstly, because the height of the seat height adjustment device cannot be increased in the height direction thereof so that other ways have to be applied to enhance the structural strength. Secondly, even if the inventor tries to change the outer diameter of the clutch mechanism to enhance the structure, the screw head of all the mounting screws (to fix the seat height adjusting device to the car seat) were obscured by the enlarged clutch mechanism; therefore, users cannot drive the mounting screw through the screw head of a tool.
In view of the above drawbacks, the Inventor proposes the present invention based on his expert knowledge and elaborate researches in order to solve the problems of prior art.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an improved seat height adjustment device that the outer diameter of the clutch mechanism (for example, cover etc.) can be increased radially, and the seat height adjustment device can be installed and fixed in the seat in a general manner.
In order to achieve the object mentioned above, the present invention provides an improved seat height adjustment device for fixing to a plurality of mounting holes of a seat comprising a brake mechanism and a clutch mechanism. The brake mechanism includes a bracket, and the bracket has a plurality of fastening components that can be separately fixed corresponding to each of the mounting holes and cannot rotate with respect to the bracket. Each fastening component has a connecting end connected to the bracket. The clutch mechanism is coaxially arranged with the brake mechanism. The clutch mechanism includes a cover, and the cover has a periphery enlarged with respect to each of the connecting ends. The cover combines corresponding with the bracket and partially or completely obscures the connecting ends.
Comparing to the prior art, the present invention has the following effects. Under the premise that the positions of the mounting holes of the seat are fixed and the height of the seat height adjusting device is not increased, the structure strength of the seat height adjusting device can be enhanced and the seat height adjusting device can be easily installed and fixed to the seat in a general manner (for example, using tools such as a screwdriver or a wrench).
The features of the invention believed to be novel are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, may be best understood by reference to the following detailed description of the invention, which describes a number of exemplary embodiments of the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
In cooperation with attached drawings, the technical contents and detailed description of the invention are described thereinafter according to a number of preferable embodiments, being not used to limit its executing scope. Any equivalent variation and modification made according to appended claims is all covered by the claims claimed by the present invention.
Please refer to
The clutch mechanism 100 includes a cover 1, an input member 2 and a plurality of first acting modules 3. Each first acting module 3 includes a first elastic member and a first roller set (not numbered). The driving disk 400 has formed a dented area in the front where the input member 2 and the first acting modules 3 are accommodated, and the cover 1 covers the dented area of the driving disk 400 correspondingly. The rotating of the input member 2 is controlled by a control handle (not shown) to drive the driving disk 400 through the first acting modules 3.
The brake mechanism 500 includes an annular body 5, a plurality of second acting modules 6, an output member 7 and a bracket 8. Each second acting module 6 includes a second elastic member and a second roller set (not numbered). Each of the second acting modules 6 is disposed in the annular body 5 and are driven by gears located at the back of the driving disk 400. The output member 7 is disposed to link with each active component 6. The bracket 8 is fixed to the annular body 5 and the cover 1 by its front side, and the back side of the bracket 8 is fixed at a car seat, a massage chair or a wheelchair etc. The output member 7 includes an output driving gear (not numbered), and the output driving gear is driven by a lifting mechanism mounted in a car seat, a massage chair or a wheelchair, etc.
In the brake mechanism 500, the bracket 8 has a plurality of fastening components 9 that can be separately fixed corresponding to each of the mounting holes, and the fastening components 9 cannot rotate with respect to the bracket 8. In other words, the fastening components 9 can be attached to the holder 8 (as shown) in such a manner that it cannot rotate in various ways and can be integrally formed and protruded from the back surface of the holder 8 (not shown). In terms of connections, there are many ways to make the fastening components 9 unable to rotate with respect to the bracket 8. In the present embodiment, the following paragraphs are taken as an example for explanation.
The fastening component 9 is a self-clinching part, a press part or a solder part etc., and the invention is not limited thereto, as long as the bracket 9 cannot rotate with respect to the bracket 8, and the posts can be bolts or rivets. Take bolts as an example, the fastening component 9 can be a self-clinching bolt, a press bolt or a solder bolt, etc. As shown in
The clutch mechanism 100 has an outer diameter enlarged with respect to each of the connecting ends 91 (or each connecting hole 81). In the present embodiment, it takes the cover 1 as an example for illustration, that is, the cover 1 has an outer diameter enlarged with respect to each of the connecting ends 91 (or each connecting hole 81). Therefore, as shown in
Thereby, under the premise that the distance between each of the mounting holes is not increased and the overall height of the seat height adjusting device is not increased, in order to enhance the structural strength of the seat height adjustment device, the structure will only be enlarged in the width (radial direction) perpendicular to the height direction. However, since the positions of the mounting holes are not changed, the structure enlarged radially will partially or completely obscure the mounting holes so that users cannot use screwdrivers or wrenches from the front side (as shown in
At this time, since each of the fastening members 9 of the present invention cannot rotate with respect to the fixing frame 8, therefore, even if the cover 1 partially or completely obscures each of the mounting holes (or each connecting end 91) as shown in
In a further embodiment not shown in the drawings, the input member 2 or each first acting module 3 of the clutch mechanism 100 is a structure which has an outer diameter enlarged with respect to each of the connecting ends 91. The driving disk 400 has an outer diameter enlarged with respect to each of the connecting ends 91. However, the input member 2 with enlarged outer diameter, or all of the first active components 3 or the driving disk 400 do not necessarily obscure each connecting end 91 unless the seat has provided sufficient installation space.
In another embodiment not shown in the drawings, the annular body is disposed between the driving disk 400 and the bracket 8, and the annular body 5 has an outer diameter enlarged with respect to each of the connecting ends 91 which partially or completely obscures each of the connecting ends 91. At this time, the back surface of the annular body 5 is flatly attached to the front surface of the bracket 8 as shown in
In addition, as shown in
It is worth noting that, as shown in
As for the manner which the fastening member 9 cannot be rotated with respect to the holder 8, and the invention is not limited thereto. For example, in the first manner, the diameter of the connecting end 91 is larger than the diameter of the rod portion of the fastening member 9 but smaller than the diameter of the cap body 911, and the connecting end 91 of a non-circular design is embedded in the connecting hole of the bracket 8 which has a corresponding shape for fixing. In the second manner, the diameter of the connecting end 91 can be larger than the diameter of the rod portion of the fastening member 9, and the circumference of the connecting end 91 is surrounded with jagged teeth. By pressing the connecting end 91 and the bracket 8 with each other, the jagged teeth at the periphery of the connecting end 91 will engaged into the inner edge of the connecting hole of the bracket 8 to be fixed. In the third manner, a convex portion may be formed on the bottom of the cap body 911, and the cap body 911 and the bracket 8 may be separately electrified to allow the convex portion of the cap body 911 to be caught in the top of the bracket 8 to be fixed.
In summary, the present invention has the following effects as compared with the prior art.
Under the premise that the positions of the mounting holes of the seat are fixed and the height of the seat height adjusting device are not increased, the structure strength of the seat height adjusting device can be enhanced, and the seat height adjusting device can be easily installed and fixed to the seat in a general manner (for example, using tools such as a screwdriver or a wrench). Moreover, the present invention has other effects. Firstly, under the premise of not increasing the height and not widening the seat height adjusting device, the teeth at the back of the driving plate 400 are manufactured by a forging processing; therefore, the cost is high. Since the present invention has been enlarged radially, the teeth at the back surface of the driving plate 400 can be made by a general processing (for example, fine punching), thus it has the effect of cost reduction. Secondly, both inner and outer walls provided for being pushed by the second acting component 6 can be radially enlarged and thickened (For example, the thickened ring wall of the annular body 5), therefore, even if the number of the second active components 6 is reduced, the external force can be evenly distributed. Thus, it also has the effect of cost reduction.
Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiment thereof, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the details thereof. Various substitutions and improvements have been suggested in the foregoing description, and others will occur to those of ordinary skill in the art. Therefore, all such substitutions and improvements are intended to be embraced within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 107102407 | Jan 2018 | TW | national |
| 107124120 | Jul 2018 | TW | national |
